Edward (Shawn Ashmore), a small-town American slacker, meets Albert, an old Mexican man who was once a mariachi. Enchanted by traditional Mexican music, Edward moves to Guadalajara, where he plans to become a mariachi himself. He becomes friends with Lilia (Martha Higareda) and develops unrequited feelings for her. Lilia helps him to advance his dream and enlists the help of Sophia (Lila Downs), the lead singer of a small mariachi band, to teach him.
Lilia herself has the dream to leave Guadalajara and study oceanography, but is constantly putting it off to help her mother run a traditional restaurant.
Edward is then recruited by a prestigious mariachi band, which puts him at odds with Lilia, who feels he's betraying his dream to be a small-town mariachi, selling out to a flashy, big-name band. During his first live show he discovers he was only included in the band as a gimmick and he quits, enraged. He tries to return to his native town, only to find out he doesn't fit anymore. Upon returning to Guadalajara, he learns that Lilia finally left. He then joins Sophia's band, becoming a small-town, regular mariachi as he always wanted.
Mariachi Gringo received mixed reviews from film critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 43% approval rating, based on seven reviews.[10] Appraisal was generally directed at the direction, music, and performances by some of the cast, in particular Shawn Ashmore in the lead role.
